Cellphones, and more particularly "smart phones," are a bane to society.
We are devolving. Remember the Good Old Days, when you didn't have to be
in constant contact? Remember when you could attend to your driving? Not to
mention the loss of up-close-and-personal togetherness that Ms. Stafford so
vividly describes.

The streets are full of Smartphone Zombies,
lurching about... staring at their little screens or clicky-clicking on their
tiny little keys.

My favorite times are those when I can leave the
cellphone on top of the dresser, rather than packing it around. Freedom!

I started leaving my phone at home several months ago; i check it three times a
day, when i get home from work, when i get home from school and before i go to
bed. Strange thing, I find my relationships far more fulfilling and i am closer
to my loved ones than i have been since i got a cell phone.

Put the
phones away everybody! it is the best thing you could possibly do for yourselves
and your families.

It's not just the phones, but all online browsing and social media.
I'm an adult in my 40s and yet when my own Mom comes to visit and is glued
to her laptop the entire time, looking for bargains on eBay or checking her
Facebook, I think, "Really? Would you seriously rather be shopping instead
of connecting with your grandkids? Is Words with Friends (with friends who are
miles away) more pressing than having a real conversation with those who are
actually in the room?" So, it's not just a warning to parents but to
grandparents as well. Be present. Choose reality over virtual imitations.

Thank you so much!! I am an older Mom. I didn't marry or get my children
until my late 30's. I have very conciously chosen not to own a cell phone,
in large part, for the reasons that you're talking about. The years are
flying by, and the time with my children will very quickly be gone--and I refuse
to miss it!! The years never come back, and I know that the time that my
children will actually want to be with me (before their teen years) is
especially precious.

Thanks for your courage and humility in
addressing this important issue!!

We got our first cell phone when our first child went to BYU and the apartment
did not have a phone. Since then (and it took a few years) we have all obtained
those stinking little devices.Now I can't drive anywhere with my wife
without my kids calling my wife! They never call me.

Oh her
relationship with our kids is amazing. They always had her undivided attention.
Nobody says anything bad about their mama and gets away with it. They can call
me anything they like, but not the mama. Nope.

All our children were
raised without cable TV, video games, cell phones and the like.

My
ancestors left England by boat, traveled across an ocean and 2/3rds the way
across a vast continent without even receiving a letter from their loved ones in
England. Now days a kid can't go to the store without a smart phone.

I spend time most mornings going for a jog/walk in the neighborhood and have had
witnessed driver cell phone usage that has nearly caused several accidents when
children were present. I've been thinking about what kind of laws should
change re cell phone usage by a driver in a car.

First. a driver may
not use a cell phone in a moving vehicle if there are any children in the
vehicle. Children don't have a choice to be or not to be in a car with a
distracted driver. Thus, take the priviliges completely away from the driver.

Second, no cell phone usage by a driver within a residential
neighborhood. Again, children are walking around and can't anticipate
quickly enough what they need to do if a distracted driver near their
presence.

It would be nice if people would take care of their own
behavior and be more careful and less distracted with their cell phone usage.
But clearly selfishness is winning out here. Its time for legislation.

And the penalty needs to be SEVERE, such as losing driving privileges for
awhile.

Shooter_McGavinLas Vegas, NVAnother thing that has taken more time
away from my kids than the Internet, cell phones, and television combined;
church callings.

We seriously need to consider scaling back the
frequency of planning meetings, quorum meetings, and interviews that eat up
hours and hours of our weeks.

Shooter -- I'm not sure how long
you have been a member, but within the last 4-5 years there was a talk in
General Conference where Bishops were TOLD to scale back -- to stop having all
of the meetings, the ward functions, the kind of stuff that eats up family time.
Its been my personal observation that many Bishops must have been sleeping thru
that talk. I listened -- I have stopped attending some of the unimportant
meetings and ward functions as there is more than one way to skin a cat.

I would say I look to agree or disagree most of the time when reading articles
and columns in the paper. This is the first time in a long time, that I soaked
up the advice while reading. I feel enlightened here Rachel. This at home father
thanks you. Now back to my kids.

The problem is that although the brethren said to cut back in
General Conference, a lot of the meetings and time devoted to callings is a
result of requests from the COB. Granted, I've never been in a bishopric,
but just from Elders Quorum callings, I spend hours each month gathering home
teaching numbers and inputting data. It is menial and mostly unnecessary, but
still required by Church Headquarters. I know many bishops who spend 30-40
hours/week doing church callings. Even cutting back 25% (which is nearly
impossible to do) is keeping them away from their families more than any amount
of cell phone or Internet use (healthy use that is).

I have the same problem with my mother-in-law. Any one on her cell phone is more
important than me standing right there in person. It's the same with call
waiting. I'll be having a heart to heart talk with her and then someone
will beep through and suddenly that's more important.

I completely agree. I noticed that the phone was the last thing I looked at at
night and the first thing I looked at in the morning. I realized rather quickly
that things needed to change and changed them. My mother in law and mom are on
the Internet all the time when they visit. I think they are worse than the
kids. I also agree that the church meetings have gotten out of control. I know
it was mentioned in Conference but I don't see any improvements. My
husband is in the Bishopric and we have three small children and his meetings
are ridiculous. He gets to church early every Sunday for Bishopric council than
ward council twice a month. He stays after for interviews and such and is
responsible for tithings every other month. He is there every Tuesday because
he is over the youth. He also has to attend BYD and BYC. All of this
doesn't even count his home teaching and random Stake trainings. I am all
for a 2 hour block on Sundays instead of three!

The "connected world" is even more insidious than just missing your
kids' childhood: I noticed one day at 10:00 break at work, every one of my
coworkers sitting there mesmerized by their phones. Not to sound superior, but
I think my 61 years have given me SOME wisdom: seeing this danger I avoid
smartphones like the plague, and have no texting service on my phone: only I and
one other worker, both of us in the near-retirement age, actually TALK to people
around us. I don't touch "social media" and don't even have
TV in my home. But people tell me I am a great conversationalist. Anybody
remember that art?